A picture has emerged of a suspected medieval sex cult leader together with one of the women he controlled - before they both died in an apparent murder-suicide which has shocked and enthralled Germany.

Torsten Weiss, 53, has been described as a domineering figure who treated women 'like slaves' and ran a medieval-themed shop filled with weapons, Knights Templar flags and a blood-spattered mannequin on the counter.

Weiss appeared to have controlled the four women like a harsh sect leader who used physical force and psychological manipulation, Bild daily and RTL television reported.

In one image he is seen with Carina U, 19, whose parents said she had fallen under Weiss's spell years ago and broken off contact with them.

Carina's body was one of two found killed by crossbows in Wittingen two days after Weiss and two others were discovered dead in Passau, 400 miles south.

Police suspect that Farina Caspari, 30, was the last one alive before she turned a crossbow on herself and shot a bolt through her neck.

'Investigators suspect they were all members of a kind of sex circle with a focus on the Middle Ages. Torsten Weiss may have been the guru of the group,' reported RTL after interviewing several people who knew them.

Weiss has emerged as the link between the four female victims, who appeared to be part of a 'sex cult'. He is pictured here alongside Carina U, 19, who was found dead at a separate address

Farina Caspari, 30 (left and right), has emerged as the trigger-woman behind at least three of the five deaths in Germany's 'crossbow killings'

Caspari is thought to have killed Torsten Weiss (left) and Kerstin Enders (right) with a crossbow bolt to the heart each before turning the weapon on herself in an elaborate murder-suicide

Caspari was a baking assistant in a civil partnership with another female 'victim', it can be revealed today.

The others to die had been isolated from their families and appear to have fallen under the spell of Weiss, who was found dead from a crossbow bolt to the heart in a small guesthouse in Passau, southern Germany on Saturday.

Gertrud C, a primary school teacher and registered partner of Farina, was found dead alongside Carina. It is not clear how they died

He was holding hands with Kerstin Enders, 33, who had also been shot in the heart with a bolt. Farina's body was alongside them. None of them had defensive wounds.

Two more victims – Farina's teacher partner named only as Gertrud C, 35, - and Carina U, 19, were found 400 miles to the north two days later at Farina's apartment in Wittingen.

The cause of death was still unclear, police said, adding that the bodies had been dead for several days, that no crossbows or arrows were found, and there were no signs of a struggle.

The case has, as yet, stumped police, with Passau prosecutor Walter Feiler admitting: 'We have five dead, that much is clear. Everything else is in doubt.'

What we do know is that, at the time of his death, Weiss was living with Kerstin in the village of Westerwald where the pair ran a bizarre medieval-themed shop.

On the shop's Facebook page it offers mead - an alcoholic drink from the Middle Ages brewed with honey - for sale along with a collection of weapons.

The shop also offered sword fighting classes twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday.

Weiss was the legal owner of his medieval-themed shop until May 2018, but worked there until his death. It is not clear who owned the shop before or after him.

It is thought the three female victims knew each other through Weiss (pictured), who was described as a domineering figure who isolated them from their families

German police are investigating five deaths more than 400 miles apart which they say are linked, but are not sure how. The case has captivated the nation

Weiss and Enders were living together in Westerwald at the time of their deaths , where they ran a bizarre medieval-themed shop (pictured)

Weiss kept a mannequin dressed in ripped lingerie and spattered with fake blood on the counter, with chains and ropes around her neck and arms

Little is known about Enders or how she met Weiss, but police say before the pair died they had written up wills.

Together with Caspari, the pair shared a love of the Middle Ages and in particular jousting, which they actively participated in.

Weiss, Enders and Caspari had been on the way back from a jousting tournament in Germany when they died, according to Bild.

Before he owned his shop, Weiss had lived in a rented farmhouse which he shared with Farina, partner Gertrud and Carina in Lower Saxony.

The house was located on a 500-year-old horse farm which comprised several buildings, a former manor, 40,000sqm of land, stables and a riding arena.

The foursome are reported to have lived there for two months in 2017.

Alexander Krüger, 44, the man who rented the farmhouse to Weiss, described him as a 'master' who ordered the women about.

Speaking to Bild, Kruger said that Weiss initially claimed to be a psychologist wanting to rent the farmhouse with his girlfriend, who he described as a lawyer.

The shop (pictured) also contains a number of medieval weapons and assorted props, but is otherwise empty. Neighbours said Weiss held sword fighting classes twice a week

A selection of weapons was show on the shop's Facebook page alongside a sign bearing its name, Milites conductius

Weiss, who is believed to be the link between the four female victims, also advertised mead - an alcoholic drink made with honey - on his webpage

A sign advertising Weiss's training classes at 6pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays

An online advert for Weiss's shop. Police said he shared an obsession with all things medieval with Caspari and Enders

Weiss, Enders and Caspari actively participated in jousting and were returning from a tournament in Austria when they died (pictured, and advert for Weiss's shop)

But after signing the lease the girlfriend never came back, Kruger said, and was instead replaced by a lesbian couple who where joined later by a much younger girl - believed to be Farina, Gertrud and Carina.

Kruger said: 'His tone with them was strange. They were almost submissive, I had the impression that they are hardly allowed to talk to me.

'His tone was so harsh. Strikingly harsh. Not the way you talk to anyone. It was in short imperative sentences.

'Their reaction, the body language was submissive, holding their heads down. If I did not know better, I'd say they were really scared of him.

'He was the great master. He gave orders.'

Kruger added that all three women dressed in heavy black clothing, while one of them had a shaved head.

Weiss is reported to have met Farina, a bakery saleswoman, and Gertrud, a primary school teacher, at a martial arts class some time before 2017.

Around the same time the women met him, they severed contact with their families.

Weiss is said to have met Carina while she was still a minor after she had run away from her family and was living in state care.

The guesthouse in Passau, Bavaria where Weiss, Enders and Caspari were discovered dead from crossbow wounds on Saturday

Police said three crossbows were found in the room where three bodies were discovered with bolts sticking out of them on Saturday

After turning 18 she left care and moved in with Weiss.

RTL spoke with a couple who feared she wa the 19-year-old woman found dead in Wittingen was their daughter Carina, who they said had fallen under the spell of Weiss years ago and broken off contact with them.

The once joyful girl had come into contact with him through martial arts classes and quickly become withdrawn and depressive, the parents said, recalling how she had died her hair black and soon moved out.

The mother recalled how initially Carina 'was raving about Torsten, Torsten, Torsten', while the father said that 'until today I don't understand how someone manages in four to six weeks to manipulate someone like that'.

German police discovered the bodies of Torsten, Kerstin, and Farina on Saturday inside a guesthouse in Passau, in southern Germany.